Brussels, 08/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed that the Mercosur countries and Chile should launch a Business Facilitation Initiative to develop dialogue on obstacles to trade between the two continents on the basis of recommendations from the business world. The initiative should be officially presented during the 4th round of negotiations on association agreements and free trade, to be held in Brussels from 12 to 14 March with Chile, and from 19 to 22 March with Mercosur. It will be developed during the EU/Mercosur Business Forum meeting to be held on 19 and 20 May in Buenos Aires, in the presence of EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and EU Industry Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. "This initiative is an important step in our overall objective of liberalising trade between the EU and Mercosur and Chile", declared Commissioner Lamy in a press release. "I very much hope it will be welcomed by our Latin American partners paving the way for further progress in our bilateral negotiations to be held in Brussels in the coming days", he added.
Addressing "concerns of both major companies and small and medium-sized enterprises", the initiative will focus on "customs issues, cross-border procedures, standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, e-commerce and competition", the European Commission states in a press release. The Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) are expected to define their common position on this initiative on 12 and 13 March, during their meeting to organise the 4th round of negotiation.
Initial reactions are positive, although mitigated. "The idea is good but the modalities have still to be set out. The subjects mentioned only cover European interests. We could hope to include agricultural issues, for example", remarked one Brazilian diplomat. "Basically the idea of speaking about it is good. Business facilitation is a concept that works well, for example in the context of discussions on the free trade agreement for the Americas", the Argentinean Ambassador for the EU, Roberto Lavagna, stated point blank.